Letters to the editor: 9/16

N.Y. spending must decrease amid cuts

Lucky for us New Yorkers, President Obama got to visit some of our colleges. His timing wasn't that good because we parents were trying to move our children into their dorms at the time when he was shutting down the schools for his visit.

College affordability is indeed important. We are paying for two full-priced State University of New York tuitions. I trust Obama's drive to SUNY Buffalo, to SUNY Brockport and to Binghamton University was enjoyable. There are lots of vacant manufacturing facilities for him to gaze upon that are monuments to the taxing policies of both Washington, D.C., and Albany.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo just announced some new initiatives to lower taxes for new business if they stay for 10 years. Rather than lower the rate for some and not others, why not just lower the rates and downsize the Albany bureaucracy to the correct size (I say about half)?

The bankruptcy of Detroit should be a wake-up call for Albany and Washington. People can and do vote with their feet! Detroit lost two-thirds of their population due to the city's policies and as a result, those retirees and public workers are losing their pay and pensions. These same high tax policies are driving companies out of New York. Politicians and government workers also need to wake up and realize that as people move out of the state, state spending must decrease along with the number of state workers.

Chuck Richwine

Verbank

Award urges kids to go to school sick

It's that time of year when school starts. I'm not writing about watching out for children or delays in getting to work. I'm writing about an award that's given out at the end of every school year - an award that brings shivers down my spine. It was started to "promote education by encouraging students to attend class." However, there's much debate on the effect this Perfect Attendance Award (PAA) award has on students.

A student who receives this award cannot honestly say that they've never been sick that school year, or all the years they attended school. Even when a child leaves a school after eight years, there are PAAs being given out to children who've never missed a day of school during those years. This award should actually be called the "I Went To School Sick and Got Other Children Sick" award. The PAA shouldn't be given out. It's important to award children for doing things well, but not for being inconsiderate of other children's health.

I hear that some students from Asian countries who attend college in the U.S. wear masks when they're sick so they won't infect students around them. Maybe we should hand out masks to students who are sick. Let's teach children to be more considerate by doing more than cover their mouths when they cough. Keep children home when they're ill. Teach them to take care of themselves. Schools, stop giving out the "Perfect Attendance Award" which encourages students to go to school sick. Let's have a healthier school year.

Rosanne Leigh

Stormville

Killings are wrong; all lives are valuable

A 99-year-old woman is killed in her own home, a 13-month- old child is shot in the face as he sits in his stroller, a jogger is shot in the back and killed, an 89-year-old veteran is beaten to death with flashlights - on and on it goes as young men run wild.

Down the street in Planned Parenthood clinics innocent babies are destroyed in vicious and cruel ways under the banner of "a woman's choice," and the progressive ruling class upholds it and applauds. Is there value in any life?

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once asked, "If a mother can kill her own child, what is there left to do?"

Lola Schurman

Poughkeepsie

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Popular

Most Commented

More Headlines

Most Viewed

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Letters to the editor: 9/16

N.Y. spending must decrease amid cutsLucky for us New Yorkers, President Obama got to visit some of our colleges. His timing wasn't that good because we parents were trying to move our children into